Marcus Foster Education Institute Turns 50, Recognizes 100 Change Makers
The Marcus Foster Education Institute (MFEI), a nonprofit that works for equity and enhanced education opportunities for Oakland students and families, is celebrating two important milestones: 50 years of service to the community and the 100th birthday of trailblazing educator Dr. Marcus A. Foster, Oakland’s first Black superintendent.
By Ken Epstein
The Marcus Foster Education Institute (MFEI), a nonprofit that works for equity and enhanced education opportunities for Oakland students and families, is celebrating two important milestones: 50 years of service to the community and the 100th birthday of trailblazing educator Dr. Marcus A. Foster, Oakland’s first Black superintendent.
Dr. Foster and the organization that he founded and now carries his name were honored last Friday evening at the Sequoyah Country Club in Oakland at a celebration that recognized 100 community leaders for their dedication as community change makers.
Dr. Foster served as Oakland Unified School District superintendent from 1970-1973. A leading education reformer in Philadelphia, Pa., he would take the helm of OUSD after civil rights protesters, including future Oakland Post Publisher Paul Cobb, sat in and were arrested at a school board meeting to demand the hiring of a Black superintendent.
In 1973, he founded the Oakland Education Fund, the first nonprofit of its kind in the nation to support school innovation. The organization was renamed in his honor after he was assassinated by terrorists in 1973 as he was leaving a school board meeting.
Dr. Marsha Foster is Marcus Foster’s daughter and a member of MCEI’s board of directors. Photo courtesy of the MFEI.
Among those who were honored at the celebration were current OUSD Supt. Kyla Johnson-Trammell, Fremont High School Principal Nidya Baez, former school superintendents Joe Coto and Ruth Love, Dr. Noha Aboelata, film director Ryan Coogler, Black Panther Party co-founder Bobby Seale, and Japanese American civil rights activist Fred Korematsu.
Other honorees included local businessman and civic leader Geoffrey Pete, civil rights attorney Walter Riley, farmworker leader Dolores Huerta, arts activist and gallery owner Joyce Gordon, and Dr. Denise Saddler.
Saddler was recognized as a “longtime educator with a proven track record for raising graduation rates, advancing staff, and impacting marginal schools. (She) is a lecturer for the Graduate School of Education at Cal (and) has also worked at Holy Names University, OUSD, and the Berryessa Union School District.”
